The multitude against empire: The impact of religion upon the global revolution

Scope and method of study. An analysis and application of the influence of religion upon the neo-Marxist works of Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri.;Findings and conclusions. Any project of global sovereignty must take account of the influence of religion. There are four potential ways in which religion can be accounted for: nonexistent, immaterial, positive and negative. On the global scale, religion is neither non-existent, nor immaterial, and this is unlikely to change given the permeation of religion throughout global society. While a system such as Empire can employ religion's influence in a positive manner, other projects will likely have to account for the often negative influence of religion on the global level. This is especially true of any project that is to make a claim of being a new form of global democracy. Thus, if a new form of global sovereignty is to emerge, this sovereignty must actively seek to incorporate the influence of religion and overcome its often negative impact on the global stage. While the potential exists within the post-modern construction of Empire for the Multitude to overthrow the current system of control, that is sadly all it remains, a potential. Hardt and Negri have failed to provide an adequate account of religion's impact upon the system in their various works and all indications point to the influence of religion as being counter to the goals of their project. So powerful a force is religion in this regard that it will continue to stifle the neo-Marxist project until an adequate account can be made of its influence and that influence has been incorporated into the neo-Marxist endeavor.